Can anyone recommend a mechanic in Bangkok (Sukhumvit / Rama 4 better) that's good with air con systems?

Not just a re-gas, but fault diagnosis?

I need one too! But at ramkhamhaeng area!

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Well today I was taken, by my friendly bilingual taxi driver, to a small place on Sukhmvit Soi 93. The place was full of air con pipes, radiators, and fans so looked like they had experience at least.

By careful mis-planning we got there just as they closed... but with a quick explanation of the symptoms the guy there said that it sounded like a wiring fault (which is what I think it is and hence why I don't want to try to fix it!!)

Have to take the car back tomorrow. I'll report back.

Just in case you were wondering, the result was next to useless.

The guy simply noted that the air con fan worked fine when any additional electrical load was put on the system, for example the brake lights, and therefore recommended that I turn on the rear heater (as that gave the consistent extra load) to make the air con fan work!!

So to get cooling, I also have to have heat !!! Genius!!

When I said that that was not really fixing the problem he said that if I wasn't happy with that solution it would mean testing all the wiring / connectors / relays until he found the problem, and he didn't have time..........

Off to Toyota then, see if they are any better....

Moral of this story is: If you want something done properly, do it yourself.

After a few hours taking various interior and dash components apart I was able to expose enough cabling and connectors to start fault tracing myself. After another hour I had found the loom strand that was faulty and even localized the fault in one vertical run alongside a door pillar.

Visual inspection showed a nick in the loom 's outer sheath, which revealed a severed cable inside!!!

A quick solder and shrink wrap job later and it was all systems go! Once I put the car back together (and including a trip to the motor factors to buy some dash bulbs for the air con control unit) I had spent 5 hours and only 90 bhat to fix the fault and the illumination of the controls.

I'm very pleased with myself, but still (slightly) surprised that no "professionals" even wanted to touch the job.... I lost most of my Saturday, but they lost out on a full day's pay....